


Blue Eyes & Loud Music

by doctorsorders_deathboy



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, College!AU, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sexual Tension, humans!au, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-03
Updated: 2015-12-03
Packaged: 2018-05-04 19:25:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5345807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctorsorders_deathboy/pseuds/doctorsorders_deathboy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico’s first two semesters of college turn out much differently than he planned when he finds himself falling for his roommate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blue Eyes & Loud Music

**Author's Note:**

> This was requested by thatsgayrin on tumblr: tysm for the request! I had SO much fun writing this one, this is definitely one of my favorites so far. (i even decided to post it a day early oops) I hope you enjoy it!

**August**

“Thanks again, Jason.”

“No problem,” Nico’s older friend replied, carrying a large cardboard box in his arms.

Nico carried a smaller box, but that was because he would need to be able to open the door once he got to his new dorm room. He walked down the hall, looking at the numbers by each room door, counting until they made it to his. The door was already open a crack. Nico took a deep breath. His roommate must already be there.

Jason nudged him with his shoulder. “You okay?”

The younger boy nodded quickly. “Yeah, yeah I am.” He pushed the door open and walked in. Across the room, a tall boy with shaggy blond hair and an orange t-shirt turned around to face him.

“Hi, are you Nico?”

“Y-yeah.” Nico wanted to kick himself for stuttering. He had braced himself for the awkwardness of having to meet a new person, but he hadn’t expected that new person to be so… well, _attractive_.

“I’m Will Solace, nice to meet you.” He held out his hand, which Nico took before quickly pulling away, surprised by the electricity the touch produced.

“Nice to meet you, too. Uh, this is Jason,” Nico introduced, quickly stepping to the side as he gestured to his friend. “He’s a sophomore this year.”

The two blonds greeted each other as Nico set down his things on the empty bed and looked around the room. Will had already made pretty good progress in unpacking his things, but the room still looked pretty bare so far. They’d have to fix that.

“You ready to go get more boxes, Nico?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“You want me to help?” Will offered. “I don’t mind.”

“Yeah, that’d be great.”

Once they’d brought all the boxes up, Jason offered to take the two of them to the burger joint on campus. “I must warn you, though. Once you have a burger there, that’s all you’ll want to eat for the rest of your life.”

“Maybe we could do that tomorrow?” Nico asked. “I’d love to, but I’m not that hungry and still need to unpack all of my things.”

“Sure,” Jason responded. “Just make sure you eat something, okay?”

“Yes, mom,” Nico joked, rolling his eyes.

Jason just laughed and shook his head. “Good luck tomorrow!”

All Nico ended up eating for dinner was a couple granola bars, but it turns out that was all Will needed, too. Will cranked his music and both of them spent the evening setting up their room. By the time they both got in bed to relax, Nico felt slightly more at home. Slightly.

He flipped the page of his book as Will came out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. Nico didn’t mean to stare, he really didn’t, but shit, his roommate was well-built. Nico knew he’d have to find a casual way to bring up his homosexuality soon so that Will would be more aware of situations like this. Either way, Nico was starting to think that maybe college wouldn’t be as bad as he thought.

** September **

Will was actually a fairly good roommate. He was pretty tidy and agreeable when it came to most things. Really, Nico’s only complaints were how distracting Will’s smile could be and his annoying music habits.

“Would you _please_ turn that down?”

“Only if you insist.” Will turned his music down a bit, but it was still too loud in Nico’s opinion.

“I’m _trying_ to study.”

“So am I.”

“I can’t hear myself think over the screaming in that song.”

“Music helps me focus.”

“That’s not _music_ , that’s just yelling.”

“Twenty one pilots is one of the best bands in existence, I’ll have you know.”

“If you insist on having music playing 24 hours a day, could we at least play my music some of the time?”

“That depends on what kind of music you’re into.”

“You know what, whatever. I’ll just go study at the library.” Nico stood up and began shoving his things into his bag. Will didn’t have to know about his Ed Sheeran obsession.

“Hey, no, I’m sorry-- here--” Will paused his playlist. “I’m sorry, you can stay. Do you mind if I turn on some quiet piano, though?”

Nico sighed. “Sure.”

** October **

“Where are you going?”

“Halloween party,” Will answered, pulling on his hoodie.

“Don’t you need a costume or something?”

“Not for this one.” The blond grinned, running a hand through his hair. “Hey, are you doing anything tonight?”

“I was just planning on marathoning horror movies,” Nico said, opening his laptop.

“By yourself?”

“Well, yeah,” Nico answered, feeling defensive.

“Dude, you're gonna get nightmares.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “I'll be fine, I do this all the time.”

“No way. Friends don't let friends watch scary movies by themselves.”

“For god’s sake, Will,” Nico muttered. He was about to say something else, hopefully something to get Will to leave him alone, when he stopped himself. Spending the evening watching movies with his hot and friendly roommate didn't sound so bad now that he thought about it.

“Nope, there’s no way I'm letting you do this.”

“Well what're you going to do about it?”

“You're coming with me.”

“Wait, what?”

“You heard me. Come on, it'll be fun.” Will grabbed Nico's jacket from where it hung over the back of a chair and tossed it to the shorter boy.

“Um, no.”

“ _Yes_ , come on, you'll love it.”

“I said no.”

“We can listen to whatever music you want for the next few days.”

“No.”

“Please?” Will’s eyebrows came up in the middle, his bottom lip sticking out slightly.

_God fucking damn it, why is he so cute?_

“Ugh, fine. But I’m taking you up on that music offer.”

** November **

“Whoo! One more week until Thanksgiving break!” Will practically skipped into the room, flopping down on his bed. “I’m so excited to be home again, aren’t you?”

Nico grumbled, looking out the window. “Not really, actually.”

“What? How come?”

Nico sighed. “Pretty much the only person in my family that I actually like is my sister, and today I learned she’s spending Thanksgiving with her boyfriend, Frank."

“Oh. That sucks.”

“Yeah. So I’ll get to enjoy a nice holiday of being around my godforsaken in-laws without Hazel’s emotional support. It’ll be torture.”

Will frowned, looking thoughtful, when he noticed the time. “Crap! I spent too long at the library. I’d better get ready for my date with Taylor.” He rushed into the bathroom, leaving Nico alone to brood.

The next day, Will practically pounced on Nico the moment the shorter boy closed the door after entering the dorm. Nico’s breath caught in his throat as he found himself in between the door and Will, close enough to see each freckle on Will’s face.

“Guess what?” The blond’s grin took up his whole face, showing his white teeth and making his eyes crinkle at the corners.

“What?” Nico’s voice came out as hardly more than a whisper. Thankfully, Will didn’t seem to notice.

“Um.” Will suddenly seemed flustered and took a step back, allowing Nico to remember how to breathe again. “Well… You don’t have to if you don’t want to, of course, but, uh. Well, I asked my family and they said you could come spend Thanksgiving with us if you want. You know, since Hazel’s spending it with her boyfriend, you could probably spend it with your roommate, right? If you want.”

Nico was dumbstruck. “Are you serious?”

Will nodded, biting his lip.

“Oh my god, that'd be great!” Suddenly, Thanksgiving wasn’t sounding too bad.

** December **

Nico gazed out the window, imagining what it'd be like if snow was falling. In Los Angeles, it didn't snow much so Nico had never experienced a white Christmas.

The brunet shifted in bed, not wanting to go downstairs and face his family. He wished he'd been able to spend this holiday at Will's, too. Nico smiled to himself at the memory. Will's family had been kind and welcoming. Nico had easily been able to see where Will got his good traits from.

Nico’s father had seemed suspicious about Nico's relationship with his “roommate,” despite his son's insistence that they were just friends. That mini argument had been especially frustrating for the freshman considering he really wished Will was more than just a friend.

“Nico! There's no way you're still sleeping. Come spend the day with your family!”

_Merry Christmas to me._

**January**

“You know, Solace, my Christmas break was wonderfully quiet without you there playing your music.”

“Hm. That must've been boring.”

Nico rolled his eyes.

“Hey, why don't we listen to your music today? I keep saying I'll let you and then never follow through. Here, give me your phone and I'll plug it into the speaker.”

Nico shrugged, opening up his playlist and handing it over to Will. He wasn't entirely sure what was on the playlist and hoped there was nothing embarrassing.

It turned out that the playlist was great. Neither boy mentioned that all of the songs were ones that Will had introduced to Nico.

**February**

Nico stood frozen in the doorway, unsure of how to react to what he was seeing.

Will sat on his bed crying, his eyes red, nose wet. He looked up upon hearing the door open, both boys staring at each other for a few moments.

“Hey, Nico,” Will said suddenly, as if snapping out of a dream. “How was your day?”

“How was _my_ day? Will, what's wrong?” Nico dropped his bag by the door, running over to sit next to his friend.

The blond tried to brave a smile, but it quickly fell from his features. “I’m fine. It’s just that-- Well, I mean-- Taylor and I broke up.”

“Oh...” Nico frowned, furrowing his brow and cautiously putting an arm over Will’s shoulders. “That must feel horrible.”

“But that’s just the _thing_ , it doesn’t really. I mean, I was kinda sad when it happened but honestly, I’m not shaken up about it. We were so close, and now that she wants to just be friends, I literally have no problem with it. Does that make me a bad boyfriend? Now that I’m thinking about it, I’m not sure if I ever really loved her. She’s an _amazing_ person, but I think I thought of her as more of a friend which why this ‘lovers to friends’ thing isn’t that difficult for me and if I’m honest I think I’ve liked this other person for a while now even though I kept denying it to myself but I just wish I realized sooner so that I could’ve broken up with Taylor before now because I think I’ve just been stringing her along when she could have been with someone better this whole time and I’ve just been such a lousy person because--” Will’s voice cracked, allowing him a break to draw a shaky breath.

Nico cut in before Will could continue ranting. “Will, what’s done is done. You’re both out of that relationship that wasn’t working out and you’ll both be happier this way. You’re not a bad person for falling or not falling in love, okay?”

Will nodded slowly. “I know. I just-- I wish I handled the relationship better.”

Nico absolutely hated seeing Will like this. Will was supposed to be loud, obnoxious, _happy_. This trembling, withdrawn boy sitting on the bed wasn’t the man Nico had fallen in love with. Nico would’ve done anything to make him smile again.

 _Fuck it_ , he decided, and wrapped him arms around Will, putting his chin over Will’s shoulder. Will returned the hug immediately, sobbing into Nico. Hot tears fell on Nico’s shirt, cooling once out in the open air. Nico closed his eyes, breathing in deep, trying to make the most of the moment. He’d thought that if he ever had the chance to be this physically close to Will, he would’ve enjoyed it, but at that moment all he could think was that he wanted for Will’s pain to go far, far away and never come back again.

Nico shut his eyes tight and wept a few tears of his own.

**March**

Nico shuffled the deck of cards in his hands, a small smile gracing his features. He hadn’t thought he’d ever see Mythomagic again. When Will had teasingly surprised him with the gift, Nico had acted annoyed, but it was a ruse. In reality, he was flattered that Will had remembered such a trivial detail about him.

Nico was sitting in the back seat of Will’s car, his legs spread out across the seat. Will had gone in the store to pick up some snacks for the road, leaving Nico to relax by himself for a moment. The 19 year old closed his eyes, leaning his head back. He was having an amazing spring break.

He hadn’t been entirely sure what to do with it originally. There was no way he was spending break with his family, and a lot of the other college students weren’t either. Will was one of them. The road trip had been the blond’s idea, which he’d been very excited about. Nico had liked the idea, too, which led them to where they were now, enjoying a three day trip on the road, with as many expenses spared as possible.

“I’ve got everything!” Will announced, getting into the driver’s seat and tossing a plastic shopping bag into the back seat with Nico.

Nico hopped up into the front seat. “You took long enough,” he teased, figuring Will had made at least eight new friends, gotten three girls’ numbers, and become someone’s godfather while in the store. Wherever the blond went, people just _liked_ him. Nico couldn’t exactly blame himself for falling in love.

“Yeah, yeah, there was this lady who was having a hard time juggling two toddlers and multiple groceries so I helped her out.”

Nico rolled his eyes, smiling. There weren’t many moments on the trip that he _hadn’t_ been smiling to be honest. He’d considerably let up on his constant act of annoyance with Will, which he could tell the slightly older boy was enjoying. When Will had first suggested the trip, Nico had figured Will would’ve invited some of his other friends. When the brunet learned it was just Will and him on the trip, he was ecstatic.

Will started the car, cranked his latest playlist, and started to drive. Nico rolled down his window, letting the cool spring wind hit him hard, pushing his hair out of his face. Both boys drove towards the sunset, smiling and free.

When they reached the campgrounds, they set up their things as quickly as they could before making themselves comfortable under the night sky. They lay on their backs, not speaking, just watching the stars twinkle from millions of miles away.

“I’m really glad we came here,” Will finally said.

“Me too.”

Nico turned his head and suddenly became aware of how close he was to Will. Even in the dark, he could see how beautifully blue Will’s eyes were. Will’s lips were full and smiling, his cheeks slightly flushed due to the chilly night air. Nico wanted nothing more than to close the distance between them, to find out what Will’s lips tasted like and to make sure neither of them felt cold anymore. Suddenly, Will’s hand grasped Nico’s, threading their fingers together. The blond smiled at him kindly. The gesture was friendly, completely platonic, but it made Nico feel like he was up with the stars himself.

**April**

This time, as soon as Nico saw Will crying on his bed he didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around the taller boy, not giving a damn about keeping distance or seeming too friendly. Will was in pain again, which made Nico throw all rational thought out the window. He just needed to do whatever would make Will feel better.

Will burried his face in Nico’s shoulder, sobs wracking through his body. Nico didn’t bother asking him what was wrong yet, just letting him get his tears out.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay. It’s okay, I’m here, you’re not alone, you’re okay.” Nico whispered nothings into Will’s ear as he rubbed his back, wishing he could do more.

Will hiccuped, pulling back slightly as he wiped his tears. “Thank you, Nico.”

Nico put his hand on Will’s face, which Will leaned into. “What’s wrong?” the younger asked softly.

Will’s face crumpled again as fresh tears fell from his face. Nico gently wiped them away with his thumb. “Will?”

“Nico, I-- I-- I can’t say it, damn it.”

“Can’t say what?”

Will didn’t respond.

“Please, Will, if you tell me, I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

“Nico, I--” Will took a deep breath, “I’m gay.”

**May**

Nico had never been much of a party person. He only ever went to them because Will would drag him along. On this particular Saturday, Will had thought it would be good for Nico to get out, and Nico had willingly lost the argument. In all honesty, he had no problem with getting to spend more time with his roommate.

Nico sat at the side of the room, a drink in his hand, watching the more outgoing students celebrate the end of their spring semester.

“Hey!”

Nico looked up to see Will making his way towards him. The brunet’s spirits were immediately lifted considerably.

“This doesn’t look like socializing,” Will teased, sitting next to the shorter boy.

“I’m all socialed out.”

Will laughed, looking out at the party. “I’m glad you came,” he blurted.

Nico glanced over at him. “Me too, actually.”

Will shifted uncomfortably. “So. There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

Nico raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Should I be worried?”

Will laughed nervously. “I hope not. Um.” He cleared his throat. “I wanted to thank you. You know, for helping me with everything. This past month has been easier than I thought it’d be thanks to you.”

Nico smiled. “Of course. I mean, I know _I_ wish I’d had someone as stupendous as myself when I came out.”

Will scoffed, shoving Nico playfully. “How humble of you.”

Nico laughed. “But in all seriousness, I’m really glad I could help. I know how tough that is and I’m glad I could make things easier for you.”

Will nodded, biting his lip. “I… I actually probably wouldn’t have come out if it weren’t for you. I don’t know, you… you were just this really cool kid who happened to be openly gay. I figured, if you can do it, why can’t I?”

Nico flushed, smiling bashfully.

“Plus… Well, I’ve told you that I’d known I was gay for a while before I really admitted it. What-- Well, what I didn’t tell you was what made me stop hiding from myself.” Will shifted, not meeting Nico’s eyes. “I… I fell in love. Like, way, way in love. With a guy. And it was the most real feeling I’d ever had so I decided to embrace it.”

Nico managed a smile, even though a small part of him wished that he was the guy Will was talking about instead of the friend he consulted in. “I’m really proud of you, you know.”

Will nodded, clearly searching for the right words.

“Do you think there’s any chance this guy could like you back?”

Will looked up suddenly, meeting Nico’s eyes. “Well, he’s gay,” he whispered.

“Really? Well right there you lucked out.”

Will swallowed. “Yeah, he’s open about his sexuality and was actually the person who inspired me to come out. He’s been the one I’ve been consulting in during this whole thing and he’s by far been the most helpful.”

Everything stopped.

Nico’s breath, his heart, the world, everything froze completely.

“You…” Nico’s voice was no more than a breath. “Are… are you serious?” Nico’s voice was choked with emotion because of how _amazingly lucky_ he was. This couldn’t be real.

But then all thoughts were wiped from his mind as Will’s lips met his. Nico could barely comprehend his surroundings, his mind clouded by _soft_ and _warm_ and _Will_.

When they pulled away, they were both breathing heavily. Neither of them were sure exactly what to say.

“Wait, this is that song you love,” Nico said suddenly as he came back to reality, remembering where he was. He immediately wanted to smack himself for saying something so stupid after their first kiss.

But Will just smiled, his eyes sparkling as he held out his hand. “Care to dance?”

Nico burst out laughing because of how beautifully absurd everything was. He nodded, standing up and heading back into a loud party with a beautiful man that he _loved_ , listening and dancing to loud, loud music and ready to do it for as long as he could.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't plan to continue this fic, partially because I like the way it ended and don't really see where else it would go and partially because I have a ton of other fics lined up rn. If you want to see what fics I plan to come out with soon and when I plan to post them, check out my tumblr: doctorsorders-deathboy.tumblr.com
> 
> ~*Comments and Kudos are a girl's best friend!*~
> 
> -Aspen


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